Asia-Business

News from China

Trading halt signals merger on the way

8th September 2017

NINE listed subsidiaries of China’s two construction materials giants suspended trading yesterday, an indication the two state-owned groups are accelerating merger.

Five subsidiaries of China National Materials Group Corp (SINOMA) and two subsidiaries of China National Building Material Group Co halted trading on the mainland stock market. They will resume trading after the two groups “unveil some important issues.” The other two subsidiaries of the two groups on the Hong Kong stock market said they were waiting for details on the merger.

Although the companies didn’t unveil reasons for the trading suspension, China Securities Journal, quoting “some insiders” said they might be settling problems on integrating shareholders at the Hong Kong-listed subsidiaries.

Song Zhiping, chairman of CNBM, said in February the companies have started “deep integration” among their 15 listed subsidiaries.

CNBM is the world’s major non-metal materials manufacturer, with total assets of over 430 billion yuan (US$66 billion) last year. SINOMA is also a leader in the non-metal materials sector. A cement giant might be established if the two companies merge their subsidiaries as planned.

Their combined cement production capacity will total around 385 million tons a year, accounting for 22 percent of the nation’s total.

Source: Shanghai Daily, September 8, 2017

Hilton Shanghai set to rebrand in 2018

7th September 2017

HILTON Shanghai, the first Hilton hotel on the Chinese mainland and one of the city's earliest international five-star hotels, will be rebranded from next year after operating for nearly three decades under the Hilton brand as the property's management contract with Hilton Worldwide will terminate in four months.

From January 1st, 2018, the hotel on Huashan Road in downtown Jing’an District “will no longer be operated by Hilton Hotels & Resorts,” according to a statement posted on its official website yesterday.

It remains unknown yet which hospitality group, from home or abroad, will manage the hotel next year.

A stone’s throw from Jing’an Temple, the 714-room property was a synonym for luxury when it first opened its doors in June 1988 when the city’s hospitality industry was just starting to develop.

For the past 30 years, numerous celebrities from around the world had stayed at the hotel, which was extremely popular among Western superstars who performed in the city particularly during the 1990s. The late pop diva Whitney Houston booked 180 rooms and suites at the hotel.

Tennis stars including Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer also chose to stay at Hilton Shanghai when they made their debut in the Tennis Masters Cup in 2002. The hotel later served for more than 10 years as the official hotel sponsor of the Tennis Masters Tournament.

Source: Shanghai Daily, September 7, 2017

India ready to work with China on beneficial ties

6th September 2017

CHINESE President Xi Jinping said yesterday that healthy and stable relations between China and India are in line with the fundamental interests of their people.

China is willing to work with India to improve political trust, promote mutually beneficial cooperation, and push Sino-Indian ties along the right track, he said.

Xi was meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Xiamen after the 9th BRICS Summit.

China and India should see each other as development opportunities rather than threats, Xi said, adding that peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation are the only right choices for the two countries.

India should see China’s development correctly and rationally, he said.

Modi agreed that India and China should not see each other as rivals and should instead make cooperation the focus of bilateral relations.

He said India is ready to work with China to develop stable ties.

Modi said he expects the leaders of the two countries to maintain close communication and play a leading role in developing ties.

Xi said the leaders of China and India had in recent years reached wide consensus on how to advance bilateral ties, agreed on building a closer partnership, and set long-term development goals.

The meeting came after a military stand-off lasting more than two months with more than 270 Indian troops with two bulldozers crossing the boundary in mid-June into the Dong Lang area, which is Chinese territory, to obstruct infrastructure construction.

On August 28, China confirmed that India had withdrawn personnel and equipment from Dong Lang, and said Chinese armed forces would strengthen patrols and defense of the area.

Xi said the two sides should maintain mutual respect, seek common ground while shelving differences, and safeguard peace in border areas.

China and India should also strengthen coordination on global affairs to strive for a fairer and more just world order, he said.

Source: Shanghai Daily, September 6, 2017

Diesel falls as German car sales climb

4th September 2017

SALES of new cars in Germany rose in August, official figures showed yesterday, but uncertainty over the future of diesel saw registrations of vehicles powered by the fuel continue to slide.

The total number of new registrations on German roads rose by 3.5 percent compared with the same month in 2016, the federal transport authority KBA said, reaching almost 254,000 vehicles.

That was faster than growth of 1.5 percent in July.

Registrations of diesel cars fell by almost 14 percent year on year last month.

Prospective buyers in Europe’s largest economy have been spooked by politicians’ response to mass cheating on regulatory emissions tests to conceal excessive levels of nitrogen oxides.

Some cities are mooting bans on heavily polluting vehicles at certain times to tackle the resulting air pollution.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was “working to prevent driving bans” as a gathering of mayors of badly affected cities and towns got underway ysterday.

Over the year from January to August, only around 40.9 percent of new cars registered were diesel-powered, the VDA auto industry federation said, down from 46.7 percent over the same period last year.

Looking at the different brands, Volkswagen — at the heart of the diesel scandal — was the largest single carmaker by registrations, with 43,500 or 17.2 percent of the total.

Source: Shanghai Daily, September 5, 2017

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